What should I do #9: Precipice

Odds are if you like computer games, you either know about Penny Arcade, or you live under a heavy, heavy rock.

What some folks don’t realize is that Penny Arcade recently put out their own video game titled On the Rain-Swept Precipice of Darkness. * I played it a while back and enjoyed it to a surprising degree. The interface is solid, the steampunk-ish world is appealing, and the game itself is pleasantly challenging in places, though by no means Nintendo hard.

As you can tell by the title, it’s rather tongue-in-cheek. The tone isn’t like anything else I’ve run into before. It’s like H. P. Lovecraft and Terry Pratchett had some sort of oddly charismatic love child with Tourette’s.

For me, the main selling point was the wit, the good use of language, and the irreverent humor. I’m a big fan of that sort of thing, if you hadn’t already guessed.

Best of all, if you’re like me and fear leaving the house during the summer for fear that the sun might touch you. You can download the whole game directly via the intertubes.

If you’re curious, there’s a demo available. If you like that, then I strongly urge you to buy the game and support them in their future endeavors.

That’s all for now folks,

pat

*** Edit: An attentive reader has pointed out that the title is actually “On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.” I stand corrected. My bad.

I’ll second that. It took me all of 5 minutes to realize I really, really liked the game. Now I can’t wait for Episode 2.That’s the trouble with finding new books, new games I like: I wind up blazing through ’em, and then waiting an eternity for the sequels…Ah, well, at least I can refresh my memory of the Name of the Wind as I read it aloud to my wife lately, biding my time for the sequel.

Pat, if you haven’t already played it, you should definitely check out Overlord. It’s quite a funny game, and you get to play an Evil Overlord controlling a horde of destructive imps who burn and kill in comedic manner at your command.

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman had an oddly charasmatic love child – they called it <>Good Omens<>. Great book, funny book.This game is teh awesome. Dare I purchase it? Maybe on pay day…Awesome stuff.

I enjoyed the demo- I should pony up the cash and buy it but I am deep in the grip of Fable right now, preparing for the sequel. I laughed out loud several times while playing Precipice. :-D Overlord is awesome, btw. Treasure! I didn’t think anyone else played it since I can never find Xbox Live matches.

Definitely a fun game. I need to finish it, sadly it was one of those things where I purchase it, play a few levels then put the controller down. No doubt I’ll pick it back up in a few months and finish it. My gaming cycle is odd like that. I treat a lot of games like that, pick it up, play it, put it down, let it breathe like a wine then pick it back up and finish it.I did that with Half-Life 2 recently which I sadly never played until now. Now that I’ve played it I’m hitting myself over the head for not getting to it sooner.Other games tho, like Portal and Braid I just sat down in one 6 hour session and finished them from start to end. I like me a good puzzle game. BTW if anyone likes puzzles and has an XBox360 I highly recommend Braid.

Pat – are you a gamer? I never pictured you as such. I could see you enjoying the best of games, perhaps owning a console that mainly acts as a reminder that you paid for a console. And I could see you enjoying <>Precipice<> – because Penny Arcade fits in with the “Joss Whedon” crowd as much as it does the gamer crowd. And Precipice is about geek humor, not really about button smashing or FPS skillz.Any chance you’ll slip in “FPS skillz” into book 2? You know, as a way of winking at a fan?

They’ve mentioned that they want the Penny Arcade games to come out every four months or so, so the next game should be out sometime in September.Precipice does have a really odd tone – distinctly Penny Arcade, though, which is tough to pull off considering how widely the tone of the comic shifts depending on what they’re trying to achieve.

Ok. I liked the demo.For years I’ve been scrambling around in dark dungeons looking for the most powerful spells and weapons, when all that was really required was quick wit and a rake!In other exciting news, I got to meet Nicholas Brendon at the weekend. He was at the Braehead Arena. What a lovely bloke. Down to earth and xander funny in real life! I recommended your book for his flight home Pat.

Hi Patrick,I just finished your book about one hr ago. Recommended to me by my brother who read it one or two months ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it and agree that it is different from most(if not all) the fantasy I have read which is a welcome suprised. I can’t wait for the next book. Guess I will just have to dust of the flux capacitor. I remember a good few years ago when my brother recommended a book he was reading at school called Magician by Raymond E. Feist. Since then I have read all of Raymon’s books. You have another fan. Kind RegardsStevenGlasgow, Scotland